Police 'Exodus of Experience' to Cost £10bn and Risk Public Safety, Federation Warns
The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), which represents more than 145,000 rank-and-file police officers, has warned that a 'broken' police service of underpaid, overworked, and under threat people risks a public safety crisis.
New analysis from the PFEW shows that policing faces an exodus of experienced officers which stands to cost the taxpayer almost £10 billion over the next five years.
Responding to the Federation's annual Pay and Morale survey of members, a quarter of officers say they plan to resign within two years. Voluntary resignations have risen 142% since 2018 and if this trend continues, 10,000 officers will resign every year by 2027, forcing the government to spend £9.9 billion on recruiting and training replacement officers just to stand still.
On International Workers' Day, the Police Federation of England and Wales is launching Copped Enough: What the Police Take Home is Criminal, a hard-hitting campaign which aims to expose the 'crisis in policing that is endangering officers' lives and livelihoods and threatening public safety across the country'.
PFEW Acting National Chair Tiff Lynch said:
'Our members run towards danger every day before taking the burdens of that work home to their families with them. What they take home – salary cut by a fifth in real terms within a generation and more trauma and stress than virtually any other worker in the country – is criminal.
'Police officers are overworked, underpaid, and under threat. We need properly-funded urgent action to stop the mass exodus of experienced officers which is putting public safety at risk. You can't have safe communities without enough police, and you can't have enough police if poor pay and poor care drives them away.'
Police officers do not have the right to strike. The campaign calls on the public to support police and their families by joining a 'digital picket line' in protest.
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